Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

My wife's father died. His will gave her a small piece of property with a mobil home on it. The will gave her brother the family home, which was nearby. No one was residing in the mobile home. The brother used an excavator to destroy my wife's property. And this is after he had ask her to do so and she had told him no. My wife and I had not lived in the mobile home for aprox. 5 years. And we did not rent it to anyone due to life threats made by the brother. So we lost the money we could have received from rent as well as the total loss of the home. What do you advise? Please help. There is another issue concerning a Life Estate also which was given to my wife's other brother. thank you


Asked on 9/21/11, 3:24 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathan Baner Baner & Baner

Too much. If you wanted to exercise all legal rights it would require a lawsuit to compel. It sounds like, and I could be mistaken, a great deal of personal property was destroyed (trailer). Trailers characterization as real or personal usually requires a bit of investigation of facts to be able to know how the law would describe it. In any event here is what I think: 1. wife, and possibly you, have a claim for conversion seeking money damages; 2. the value of the claim may or may not be worth pursuing considering the costs of the suite, value of property destroyed, and the degree of family turmoil it may create; 3. Life estate question is simply a reference to a vast area of potential issues.

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Answered on 9/24/11, 3:55 pm


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